Growth in the West 1860-1900 Chapter 19, Section 4 Farming & Populism Growth in the West 1860-1900 Chapter 19, Section 4

Essential Questions: How did the U.S. encourage and support settlement of the Great Plains? What positive and negative impacts did inventions have on farmers? How did supply and demand factors prompt farmers to take action? When citizens are faced with problems, what are some of their options for creating solutions? What marked the closing of the frontier?

Push & Pull Factors For Immigration (1865-1900)

Olaf Olsson “We do not dig gold with pocket knives, we do not expect to become… rich in a few days or a few years, but what we aim at is to own our own homes… The advantage which American offers is not to make everyone rich at once, without toil or trouble, but… that the poor… can secure a large piece of good land almost without cost, that they can work up little by little.” Olaf Olsson, The Swedish Americans, by Allyson McGill

The Homestead Act (1862) Offered 160 Acres of Land Out West to Anyone for FREE! Deal Was, “You Had to Live On & Improve the Land for 5 Years” Any Idea What 160 Acres in NY Costs Today?

160 Acres in Valhalla

Land Available!

The Exodusters African Americans Who Fled West After the Civil War in Hope of A Fresh Start Compared Themselves to the Ancient Hebrews Escaping Egypt (The Book of Exodus) Over 50,000 African Americans Settled in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana & Illinois

The Exodusters

European Immigration Swedes, Germans, Norwegians, Ukrainians & Russians Immigrated to the Great Plains for FREE Land Learned Of the Homestead Act from Traveling American Railroad Salesman Advertising in Europe! Why Do Railroad Companies Want Settlers to Go Out West & Get FREE Land?

U.S. Government Assists Railroad Companies Settle the West U.S. Government Gave Millions of Acres of Land to Railroad Companies for FREE Wanted Railroad Companies to Build Tracks Out West (Help Encourage Settlement) Railroad Companies Resold the Land to Settlers on Both Sides of the Tracks Built (New Customers for the Railroads $$$)

Sodbusters Settlers Faced Many Problems on the Great Plains: No Trees (How Do You Build a House?) No Firewood (Had to Use Buffalo Chips) No Water (Had to Dig Wells 280+Feet) Weather (Blizzards, Fires, Tornadoes, Hailstorms, Drought) Life Was Miserable on the Great Plains

New Inventions Help Farmers New Inventions Helped Farmers: Steel Plow: Invented by John Deere Sliced Through Tough Sod Windmills: Pumped Water From Wells Barbed Wire: Fence in Land & Livestock Reapers: Harvest Crops Easier Threshers: Separated Grain/ Seed from Straw

Overproduction Too Much Production = Lower Prices!

The Laws of Supply & Demand Demand = The Amount of People Who Want a Product Supply = The Amount of Products Produced How Much Would Someone Pay for Playstation 4? Playstation 2?

4 Problems Farmers Faced (1870’s) Overproduction: Farmers Were Making Too Much! Prices Dropped! New Farm Inventions Were Very Expensive! Railroad Rates to Carry Crops to Market Were Very Expensive $$$ Railroads Owned Grain Elevators to Store Crops: Charged Farmers High Rates to Store Crops!

Grain Elevators

Grange Movement (Patrons of Husbandry) Farmers Gathered Together to Protest Against Economic Problems Farmers Were Angry! Political Movement Demanded Government Regulation Wanted the Government to Interfere & Pass Laws to Help Farmers Aligned Against the Railroad Companies Transportation Costs Too High Storage Costs Too High (Grain elevators)

Grange Movement Formed Cooperatives Organizations Owned & Run by its Members Farmers Joined Together Too: Buy Their Own Grain Storage Elevators Sell Their Crops Directly to Merchants (Their Own Stores) Share Farming Equipment Made More $$$, But Not Enough!

Grange Movement Farmers Continued to Pressure the Government for Help! Asked States to Have Railroad Companies Lower Their Storage & Freight Rates Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin & Iowa Helped the Farmers! Railroad Companies Were Angry! Sued the State Governments!

Munn vs. Illinois (1877) #3 of the 7 Supreme Court Cases You MUST Know! Railroad Owner Munn Sued the State of Illinois (1877) for Lowering Railroad Rates to Farmers Claimed that Private Companies/Businesses Can Charge Whatever Price They Want!

Munn vs. Illinois (1877) Ruling U.S. Supreme Court Disagreed! Court Ruled that States & the U.S. Government Can Regulate Railroad Rates Because it was in “THE PUBLIC’S BEST INTEREST!” A Victory for the Farmers!

The Populist Party A.K.A. = The People’s Party Wanted the Free Silver Policy Wanted the U.S. to Make ALL $$$ Out of Silver (Not Gold) & Make More of It! Wanted to Cause Inflation (The Rise of Prices)

Time Out! One Major Problem That We Have in this Country is Homelessness! In Your Groups, You Have 5 Minutes to Brainstorm & Come Up With a Solution to this Problem! Class Dojo

What is $$$ Made Out Of?

Solution? Why Don’t We Just Cut Down A Bunch of Trees & Print Up More $? We Can Replant the Trees! Give Everyone in the United States $10 Million Dollars Each! Good Idea?

What Costs $1

Inflation What is the Cost of a Pretzel in the Cafeteria Today? What Would be the Price of that Pretzel if Everyone Received $10 Million? Why So Much? What Happened to the Value of Your Original $1?

Free Silver Policy Farmers Wanted to Make ALL $$$ Out of Silver Wanted to Put More $$$ Into Circulation Wanted to Cause Inflation to Raise Prices of Their Crops Problem is, What Happens to the Value of the $$$?

The Gold Standard Government Backs Every Dollar with a Certain Amount of Gold Gold is Limited  Less $$$ in Circulation Protects the Value of $$$ Keeps Prices Down!

Election of 1892 Usually Republicans vs. Democrats in Elections Populist Party was a 3rd Party that Ran for Election: Want Free Silver Policy Want Government Ownership of Railroads Want Shorter Working Hours Populist Party Loses  But Puts Up a Good Showing!

Election of 1896 William McKinley was the Republican Candidate William Jennings Bryan was the Democratic Candidate Populist Party Combined with the Democratic Party Republicans Won! Populist Party Collapsed!

The Closing of the Frontier By 1889, No More Frontier Left: No More Land! In Oklahoma, About 2 Million Acres of Indian Territory Was Left Thousands Rushed Out to Grab What Was Left!

Essential Questions: How did the U.S. encourage and support settlement of the Great Plains? What positive and negative impacts did inventions have on farmers? How did supply and demand factors prompt farmers to take action? When citizens are faced with problems, what are some of their options for creating solutions? What marked the closing of the frontier?